Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Magnetic bearings support a rotor using magnetic levitation. In general, magnetic bearings utilize electromagnets to balance forces. In particular, the electromagnets adjust a magnetic field generated by the magnetic bearing to balance the rotor. That is, current applied to the electromagnets may be adjusted in real time in order to adjust the magnetic field to compensate for instabilities that build up in the rotor. Typically, sensors are used to detect the position of the rotor relative to the static electromagnets to determine the amount of current to apply to each electromagnet in order to adjust the magnetic field. Magnetic bearings may be preferred in some applications, since magnetic bearings are capable of operating at higher speed than conventional bearings. By operating in a nearly frictionless environment, magnetic bearings generally do not experience wear caused by friction.